Lately, Blackwater has been in the news quite a bit. Before the new millennium, most people have never even heard of the company. And even now there are plenty of people that have no idea what Blackwater is or what Blackwater does. So let us find out together.
Blackwater USA is a private military contractor and security firm. Blackwater was founded in 1996 in North Carolina. The president, vice president and other business unit leaders are former Navy SEALs and one is a Force Recon marine. The founder is Erik Prince, who also serves on the board of Christian Freedom International. The companies that comprise Blackwater USA are Blackwater Training Center, Blackwater Target Systems, Blackwater Security Consulting, Blackwater Canine, Blackwater Air (AWS), Blackwater Airships, LLC, Blackwater Armored Vehicle, Blackwater Maritime, and Raven Construction.
The company claims to offer “the most comprehensive professional security, peacekeeping, and stability operations in the world”. The Vision statement of Blackwater is “To support security, peace, freedom, and democracy everywhere.” Among these statements is an honorable note that begins, “Blackwater is committed to the foot soldiers– the men and women who stand on the frontlines of the global war on terror and who believe in a peaceful future for their communities and nations.
Gary Jackson President of Blackwater was listed as number eleven on the Fast Fifty list in March 6, 2006. The Fast Fifty is a list published by the Fast Company magazine, a publication for business owners that focuses in the problems of and advice for running various businesses. The Fast Fifty was not a ranked list, but a list of the top companies that made considerable leaps and bounds for that year. The article ended with “…President Gary Jackson is in for a very strong (and long) decade.” Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Yahoo, and General Electric were also among Blackwater on the list.
However, the company isn’t quite as clean cut as it sounds. Blackwater has had criminal allegations of war profiteering and unethical hiring procedures. Currently, Blackwater is having some legal disputes with the families of deceased Blackwater contractors, with the allegation being that Blackwater did not provide even the basic tools for their survival, such as ammunition and armor. Critics are calling Blackwater contractors mercenaries, a soldier that essentially fights to kill the enemies of his employer. In regards to the negative label mercenaries, Blackwater claims that there is a distinct difference in the modes of operation between a mercenary and a private military contractor, with the private military contractor being the most honorable of the two.
Blackwater USA is everything that police officers and soldiers need and fantasy soldiers of fortune dream about. Their North Carolina facility offers several training classes a year, including hand to hand combat, strategic and precision driving and precision rifle marksmanship training. This training is for various degrees of violence, from passive defense to aggressive offense. There are just some situations that require a slap on the wrist, say for instance a cop arresting a teen for burglary, and other more violent measures, like when stopping a terrorist from attacking a crowded shopping mall. The training teaches the dispensers of lawfulness the how, when and why to use or refrain from the use of physical force on an individual.
For anyone that has chosen security as a career, having completed training from Blackwater serves two functions. First, the resume will be sure to catch the eyes of future employers. Blackwater’s reputation for providing more than adequate training in civil troubles almost guarantees to get the trainee’s foot in the door of employment. Second, training received at Blackwater will be thorough and will better prepare them for what lays ahead. For instance, police officers can receive specific training to deal with school hostage situations. Or body guards can learn how to minimize the damage from a crazed foe in a public arena.
Although not everyone that works for Blackwater USA is a mercenary type, the company definitely has the means to produce them. The Blackwater Company prefers the term private military contractors, indicating that Blackwater employees are not out on the front lines fighting the war, but rather there to provide security in an unsecured area. On average, the ratio of instructors to students is 1:7.
The company claims to have the largest privately owned firearms training facility in the nation. The North Carolina facility has over 6,000 acres of shooting ranges, urban and rural reproductions, including school buses and school buildings. There is also the Blackwater Academy that trains recruits to be fighting machines under strict contracts to Blackwater. The academy only accepts those that can pass physical fitness tests, psychological testing, and meets strict background and criminal checks.
No matter how politely put, Blackwater workers are perceived as lethal and cold blooded. Their presence causes quite a stir, which was easily seen in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Despite resident complaints during this trying time, Blackwater was under contract to Homeland Security and was authorized to use lethal force. One Blackwater employee was quoted at that time as saying, “We’re much better equipped to deal with the situation in Iraq.”
In Iraq, there have been more than several contractors killed in the line of work. Two of the most recognized was the two bodies that were hanged of a bridge in Falujah in March of 2004. The families are claiming that Blackwater did not provide the men with armor and other basic protections like ammunition. The five most recent Blackwater casualties were on a helicopter in Iraq that was shot down Tuesday February 6, 2007. However, the chance of being a Blackwater military contractor and surviving is better than the chance of being an U.S. soldier and surviving.
There is an unexpected side to Blackwater however, one that separates the mercenaries from the good old boy. Blackwater is very well prepared for humanitarian efforts, the kind that consists of lending a brotherly hand to those that will take it. It is likely that the company had been hired by the U.S. government for action in any future disaster, hence Blackwater’s presence after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Blackwater is especially suited to handle chaotic affairs, like possibly a nuclear attack or extreme terrorist attack, due to its ability to deliver 100- or 200- ton self contained humanitarian relief packages faster than the red cross.
Another surprise is to learn that the evil sounding name of Blackwater was not imagined up for drama reasons, but rather because the watery ground at its facility. If a deep hole is dug into the earth, the hole will begin to fill with dirty water.
